On the way home from work today in my 1986 Iroc z28 I put on my right turn signal and as i made the turn i hear this crackling plastic sound in the column and my signal lever was just flopping up and down and would light up either signal as the wheel drifted from side to side.Also everytime i made a turn my horn would blare uncontrollably.This was very annoying.How hard is this to replace.Ive looked at the shop manual and i know that you do have to dissassemble to column

 

The column doesn't have to be disassembled. All you need to remove is the steering wheel and lock plate. The broken turn signal cancelling cam will be fairly obvious at that point. You can get everything you need to repair it at AutoZone. The cam should be in the Dorman/Motormite HELP! section. They will "rent" the steering wheel puller and lock plate compressor to you for basically a deposit, which is refunded when you return the tools.

Remove the wheel, then lift off the plastic trim cover. Depress the lock plate and remove the lock ring. Release teh lock plate compressor, lift it off, and look at the broken turn signal cam.

 

Ok...I went to the junkyard today and pulled a good turn signal switch.I managed to get the old one out without much of a problem.I installed the new switch in the column and it works fine except i was getting a ringing tone noise when i would tighten it down.It would stop if i hit the courtesy light switch in the door jamb.I didnt even have the key in the ignition.So basically i just removed that small clip with the 2 metal leads on it and now allis good with that.Only thing i have to do now is get the lock plate compressing tool so i can get that snap ring back in place and put my steering wheel back on.

 

Damn straight! Trying to drive with a pair of vice grips is dangerous and people look at you strange.

 

Well I got the lock ring compresser tool and finished up with column.I even put on a very nice just about brand new z28 leather steering wheel that i just got the other day at the junkyard.The switch works fine but now my steering wheel feels very shakey and wiggles a bit.Is there anything i can do to fix this other then replacing the whole steering column?

 

Are you sure you tightened the steering wheel bolts enough?

Otherwise, if it's not just the wheel but the whole upper part (past the tilt mechanism) that's wiggling, I would suspect that the nuts deep down inside the column have worked themselves loose. Until the early 90s GM never put Loc-Tite on those nuts in the tilt columns and so this was a chronic problem.

You could disassemble the column yourself if you feel like a challenge, or you could ask around and find a good steering column shop and have them do it.

 

It seems like its the center shaft that the steering wheel secures onto.It wiggles a bit from side to side and up and down.

 

OK, you're suffering from the infamous tilt column wobble. Either tear the whole column apart yourself and Loc-Tite those bolts waaay down inside it, or take it to a reputable column shop and make sure they put Loc-Tite on the bolts when they put it back together.

 

Search the archives. I must have posted instructions with diagrams, photos, torque specs, and hints at least a dozen times myself, let alone all the other members that have detailed the process.